I live in the Cascade foothills, just 20 mi (32 km)
from the Pacific Crest Trail via trails leading right from my backyard.
My outdoor time in Washington is spent dayhiking, backpacking,
climbing, fishing and skiing everywhere from the Olympic coast to
rainforests
to Cascade volcanoes to dry steppe. I played football in
college and often evaluate products from a big guy perspective. My
typical pack load ranges from 11 - 20 lbs (5-9 kg) and usually
includes plenty of wet weather gear.

I've always been a fan of altimeter watches. When I'm on a known trail
and losing the path is unlikely, I find that in the Cascades navigation
can be very easily done with nothing more than a map and altimeter.
Because most trails out here are either going up or down - there aren't
many flat walks in the Cascades - a quick glance at the altimeter and
then finding where that elevation contour intersects the trail gives a
pretty accurate location. I've used this method enough over the past 15
years that I can typically figure out where I am on a trail within just
a few seconds, often without the need to even stop moving. The entire
system, of course, depends on an accurate altimeter. Quickly changing
weather patterns can cause significant altimeter drift, so I've gone
through a number of altimeter watches. I've used at least 5 different
altimeter watches in this way and still have not found the perfect
watch. I'm curious to see if the Origo Rendezvous Peak watch can allow me
to use this method of finding my location in a clean, quick, accurate way
and do it in a comfortable package that brings some other useful
features along for the ride.

Part
of Origo's AccuSense line, the Rendezvous Peak is a fully featured
watch that brings more than just an altimeter to the feature list.
Here's Origo's description with a full list of the watch's
capabilities:

Origo description:

Designed for the uncompromising athlete, Rendezvous Peak watches are
precision instruments that not only perform, but project
sophistication. Its competitive nature is hidden behind its handsome
exterior. Each multi-sensor watch unites barometric pressure, altimeter
and digital compass data in a small, sleek timepiece. The perfect
Rendezvous is waiting for you.

Origo Feature List:

Graphic weather forecasting indicator and temperature function

Barometer trend graph display (past 30 hours)

Altimeter 1 foot resolution

One-touch direction access altimeter

Altitude graph with past 8 hours trend

One-touch direct access digital compass with bearing lock

Declination adjustable

75 altimeter data memories with date, time and altitude

1/100 second chronograph with lap and split time

99 lap memories stored in a maximum of 99 runs

2 daily alarms

4 models: black with standard display or reverse display and black with stainless steel bezel with standard or reverse display

Soft Blue EL backlight

Battery life: Up to 1 year

Water resistance: 165 feet

Weight: 70g; Diameter: 32mm; Case Diameter: 43mm; Thickness: 15mm

The
Rendezvous Peak cycles through these features in a pretty fluid and
predictable way. With only 4 buttons on the watch, remembering what
each does is pretty simple. The one that gets the big workout is the
bottom left: MODE. This button cycles through the different
capabilities of the watch in sequence: TIME > COMPASS > BAROMETER > ALTIMETER
> ALTIMETER DATA > CHRONOGRAPH > CHRONOGRAPH DATA > ALARM > TIMER > back to TIME.

Inside
of each of these modes, the top left button usually
adjusts or calibrates the main feature, the top right starts and stops
and turns on and off various features in the respective modes, and the
bottom
right resets data. This is not an exhaustive list of exactly what the
buttons do in each mode, but in general these are their primary
functions. The buttons require a firm push to engage, but are not so
stiff that they are difficult. After having used some watches with very
mushy buttons, these are a pleasant change for the better.

One
of my favorite aspects of the Rendezvous Peak is that there is a lot of
information visible without
going through the modes at all. On the "home" TIME screen, weather is
visible (although tiny), temperature, date, time, battery remaining,
and a visual seconds ring that works its way around the circumference
of the display. It's great to have all that information available at a
glance without touching a single button. The manual, which spells the
name of the product incorrectly on the cover, is tiny and actually the
first watch manual I would have no problem bringing with me on a trip.

On
my initial uses, I've found a
few strengths, a few quirks to the Rendezvous Peak, and a few concerns.
For strengths, my first couple uses of the altimeter have shown it to
be very accurate and easy to use. This is the feature that is most
important to me, so I'm happy to see it seems to be a strong point of
the watch. I also like the simple user interface and easy navigation. I
don't want to have to read the manual to figure out how to use features
and so far the limited stuff I've tried is pretty intuitive. The quirks
are mostly regarding "comfort" aspects, so these can be chalked up as
personal preferences. To me, the watch seems pretty bulky. The main
part
of the watch is pretty thick, but it's the band that makes it bulky.
It's easily the most substantial and stiff watch band I've ever used.
In fact, I find it difficult to wear because the curve is so built in
and inflexible that it doesn't wrap around my big wrists comfortably.
There is no hinging at the joint where the band meets the watch, so the
curvature is fixed. I
often attach altimeter watches to my sternum strap and this watch works
well this way, but seeing how easily after market watch bands work with
the Rendezvous Peak will be something I'll be sure and note in future
tests. Another quirk is that the weather icons are extremely small -
almost unusably small. The reverse display (black background with light
numbers) is a refreshing change from the watch displays I've used in
the past, but it is very dim in all but sunlight. The backlight is also
pretty weak and I find myself having to put the watch pretty close to
my face and looking at it from multiple angles to read the display.
Most of the time I use the watch it will obviously be outdoors, so I'm
not too concerned about it, but it is a little odd and I've never used
a watch that was this difficult to easily read the display. My only
concern at this early stage is with the battery life. It might be
completely a non-issue, but the watch arrived dead as a doornail but
with a spare battery in the box. I installed the new battery right
away. This is easy to do as a user and this is very much appreciated
after having some watches in the past that required a jeweler to swap
it out or risk voiding the warranty. Big thanks to Origo for this!
Within just a couple days, however, the battery icon was down to almost
empty. Now, it's possible that this was not a new battery or that it
had been sitting for a long time and wasn't fresh. Receiving a dead
watch and having the first battery replacement drain quickly is not
encouraging, however. I'll most definitely be installing a brand new
battery and reporting on how the watch behaves with it.

I look forward to putting the Origo Rendezvous Peak through its paces over the next 4 months!

Initial
Report SummaryInitial
Likes

Conservative styling is simple and functional

Altimeter - the feature I'm most interested in - seems very stable and accurate in initial use

Intuitive user interface for anyone familiar with outdoor watches

Initial
Concerns

Some screen functions are very difficult to see

Battery life may be a concern

Difficult to read display in some lighting conditions

Very stiff strap makes a heavy watch seem even bigger and clunkier

My
thanks to Origo and www.backpackgeartest.org for the opportunity to test
the Rendezvous Peak watch!

Field
Report

Field Report

The
Origo Rendezvous Peak watch has seen pretty solid use during the past
couple months. It was used on a car camping overnighter in September, a
5 day trip to the remote Enchantments area of the Cascades, and 4 day
hikes. The car camping trip and the 5 day trip saw great weather. Night
temperatures approached freezing, but other than that all was picture
perfect. The day hikes have been a different story. As the weather
changed and late fall arrived, the weather has been much uglier. All
but one of the dayhikes has involved significant precipitation. One had
a mix of snow and sleet. All have had temps just below or just above
freezing. The mostly windy and wet miserable weather we've had in most
of October and November have been good testing conditions, but not very
pleasant!

I
think the best way to organize the first part of the review is to cover
the watch by function in the order they cycle through on the watch
modes:

FUNCTIONS

TIME:
This mode is more than just time. It serves as the "home" screen and I
have used it the most by far. It tells me almost everything I'm
interested in
with one quick glance. Time, temperature, weather, battery life, and a
seconds "hand". The time has kept up well. I have an atomic clock at
home that is presumably always updated with accurate time and the
Rendezvous Peak has kept time with it right along. Some of the icons
are small on this screen, but passable as it's usually pretty easy to
get the watch face close up without much effort.

COMPASS: I haven't used the compass for navigation that I've
depended on (I rarely use a compass to figure
out where I'm going) but has been dead on with a phone and gps compass
in side-by-side comparisons. It wobbles a bit, but so does pretty much
every other compass I've used. I can say that it is the most consistent
and accurate compass on a watch I've ever used. This is a feature I
more often than not find to be almost worthless. On the Origo, it
actually does what it's supposed to.

BAROMETER:
The barometer seems to track just fine. It handled elevation well on my
5 day trip with minimal drift. I haven't used it during
rapidly changing conditions yet. The weather I've been in has
been all good or all bad so the atmosphere has been relatively
stable. Usually when the barometer is a mess the altimeter is all over
the place. This has not been the case with this watch, so I presume
that the barometer is doing a pretty solid job at adjusting to changing
conditions.

ALTIMETER: The altimeter - the most important feature for my use - made
its debut in grand style. In one of the steepest non-technical climbs
in the Cascades, Asgaard Pass climbs well over 2000 feet (600 m) in
less than one mile (1.6 km). The top of the pass was not always clearly
visible, so being able to measure progress made having the altimeter a
huge benefit. It helped with timing, pace, and morale. It was very
accurate. By the time we reached the top of the pass, it was within 40
feet (12 m). With that much elevation over that short of a distance, I
was really impressed. After this use I was an instant fan of the
Rendezvous Peak.

ALTIMETER
DATA: The altimeter data did a nice job of storing high points. The
pass, the top of Little Annapurna, and a couple other scrambles were
nicely stored for later recall. Unfortunately, they all disappear with
a battery change, which is discussed further below.

CHRONOGRAPH: On my local quick hike, I often use time to measure
progress and compare one hike to another. I have used the chronograph
(stopwatch) for a couple of these hikes and it works just fine and
functions just as I expect a stopwatch to. The hike is consistent
enough that a few minutes here or there aren't that important to me so
I haven't used it on the last couple hikes.

CHRONOGRAPH
DATA: I did record my likely best time on the local hike, but like the
altimeter data, the record was wiped out with a battery replacement.

ALARM:
I've only used the alarm to test that it works. It does work perfectly
so far. I haven't relied on it to wake me up, but I have no doubt it's
loud enough to rouse me. I'm a pretty light sleeper as far as noise
goes.

TIMER: This is a countdown timer. I've played with it a bit, but
haven't used it in a real world scenario yet. I'll be sure to cover it
in the Long Term Report.

Testing grounds for the Origo's first trip

USE

FIT: As I noted in
the Initial Report, I find the band pretty annoying. I've used it
almost
exclusively on my pack's sternum strap. This has worked great and
actually the super stiff band becomes an asset used this way. I can
rotate
it so the face is up and it's so stiff that it actually stays put. I
need only
glance down and I have all the info right there and don't even need to
bring my wrist up to see things on the "home" screen. I will try to fit
it with an after market
band to see if it works better for me that way. It does not appear as
though Origo offers any replacement band alternatives. It is as stiff
as the day it arrived and has not softened or relaxed in the
slightest.

BACKLIGHT: The backlit display is definitely best in bright light.
It is still difficult to see clearly in half light or dim light. Direct
light - natural or headlamp beam - works fine. The blue backlight does
an adequate job of lighting up the display in darkness, but it is
weaker than I'm used to and I need to hold it pretty close to my face
to make out the details on the display.

BATTERY:
My biggest concern from the Initial Report has proved to be a major
issue. As I noted in the Initial Report, the battery that came in the
Rendezvous Peak was completely dead. I swapped it out before my
backpacking trip with a replacement that Origo had provided. This
battery was not packaged but placed loosely in the watch box. I had no
idea if it was brand new or not, but after just a couple weeks of use
it was almost dead. A dayhike later, it too was completely dead. A
couple weeks ago I got a brand new sealed Duracell battery and put it
in the Rendezvous Peak. It was nice to finally see the battery meter at
full! I went on a dayhike and by the time I reached the summit of a
local cliff the battery was down to 1 or 2 segments (4 is full). I
thought maybe it was the cold temperatures since cold can affect
batteries, but even after returning home it stayed weak. This third
battery has not completely died, but after only a couple weeks it
appears to be on its last legs. Obviously something is wrong with the
battery use as a few weeks is well below the expected life in this
watch.

SENSOR: A new problem has emerged in the last month. Perhaps it's
battery related, but the sensor seems to bonk out frequently. In fact,
it's so bad now that it's a rare thing to have it working at all. When
it happens I get no altimeter, no
barometer, no compass, and no temperature. At first I thought it was a
bad setting and I had changed something I wasn't supposed to. I
went through the entire manual and adjusted every mode if needed.
Nothing changed. Finally, I figured that maybe the
sensor shuts down all but core functions as the battery dies.
I replaced the battery but found the same thing. All sensor functions
were dead. I was about to give up and go through
the Origo warranty process when I took it on one last hike a week ago
to further
test the timer functions. On the summit, all of the sudden the "home"
screen showed a temperature reading for the first time in quite awhile.
I quickly checked the other functions and
sure enough, the altimeter, barometer, and compass all worked. I let
out a small cheer and, amazingly,
the altimeter was actually pretty close despite going through a couple
battery changes and multiple adjustments without being calibrated. I
was very pleased and
glad to see it working again. I then pulled out my phone to check some
altimeter, gps, and map data to compare with the Rendezvous Peak and
make some adjustments. By the time I got the phone
fired up, all watch sensor data was gone again. Oh, the disappointment!

At this point the Rendezvous Peak is utterly unreliable. I'm on the 3rd battery and even
with a fresh one can't get the information I need most. It's very difficult to
imagine trusting this for anything remotely critical to my navigation or altimeter needs. I'm assuming it's
a defective unit and will work with Origo to find out what's going on
or if a replacement is needed. I'll report on this and more in the Long Term Report.

Field Report Summary

Field Likes

The
altimeter was a champ when I needed it most. If that was the only
function of the entire watch, it would be worth it for that day alone!

I still like the user navigation of the watch. Almost every function is easy to find, get to, and understand.

Field Concerns

Obviously the sensor issues are a big deal. Without all of those functions this is just a simple time-telling wristwatch.

The battery issue - a watch needs to last more than a couple weeks on a new battery.

Long Term Report

Long Term Report

Shortly
after the sensor on the Origo Rendezvous Peak failed again at the end
of the Field Report, I began looking into the return process. I sent an
e-mail to the address on the website and did not receive a reply. It's
possible the e-mail was never received or I used the incorrect one.
This was also in the midst of the holiday chaos in mid-December, so I
expected to need a good dose of patience with the process from the
outset. Suspecting my note hadn't made it to Origo, I tried again, this
time checking and double-checking to make sure I had everything just
right. A few days later I received a brief reply with a return
authorization number and the address to where I should send the
watch. When I went to package up the watch, the battery was now
completely dead. That meant that it had indeed gone through 3 batteries
in 3 months. Two of them were likely brand new, and one was absolutely
new off-the-shelf as I purchased it myself in November. Obviously
something was wrong with the watch. I packaged it with a letter
outlining the issues and sent it off to Origo.

The
return system does not verify receipt or offer updates or anything like
that. Once I sent it in, there was no indication of what happens next,
how long it would take, or questions about my use or problems I had. I
simply had to wait.

About a month later, with no e-mail, letter,
call or communication, a box arrived on my doorstep with what appears
to be a brand new Rendezvous Peak inside. I'm confident it is not the
same watch with repaired or replaced components. It seems to me to be a
new watch altogether. The documentation included is simply an invoice.
Most importantly, the watch was up and running and all sensors appear
to be working perfectly.

So, in many ways I'm back to where I
was at the beginning of this test. I have a watch here that needs to be
put through its paces and tested in the real world. Obviously
durability is my greatest concern. It seems to work perfectly right
now, but trusting it is a little difficult after the past 4 months of
testing. The big question for me is whether that was a fluke bad watch
or this is a common problem. I would highly encourage readers to check
out the other BackpackGearTest.org tester reviews at http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Electronic%20Devices/Watches/Origo%20Rendezvous%20Peak/ to get other views of how this watch has performed.

Test Summary

Although
this review is coming to a close with this report, readers can expect
an update in a couple months to comment on the durability of the Origo
Rendezvous Peak watch. It certainly has a lot of potential and the
altimeter really is top notch, but it must be reliable to use to make
it into a permanent spot on my gear list.

My thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and Origo for the opportunity to test this watch!

Product tested and reviewed in each Formal Test Report has been provided free of charge by the manufacturer to BackpackGearTest.org. Upon completion of the Test Series the writer is permitted to keep the product. Owner Reviews are based on product owned by the reviewer personally unless otherwise noted.